Thoughts on Generic Ribashpere

[GoofyDad]

Around mid-December 2005, generic ribaviran hit the market in the form of Ribasphere. A number of us here are in the process being switched over to it, and I think it's safe to say more and more will be switching going forward.

Most of us would probably prefer to continue treatment with the name brand drug, although with the significant price differential between name brand and generic, I expect many of us would more willingly switch to the cheaper product were we paying out of pocket.  

I thought it would be informative to have a thread for discussing the merits and issues of generic ribavirin.

[rondon47]

Since I am 68 and I pay for my own insurance supplement I thought I was in ggod shape as far as co-pay. What I didn't know was that there are medication I can not ge anymor. Ambien is one. I can only get 90 days of any other sleep aid and no Ambien. Call Insurance company and they told me and I quote "Sleep aids for my age group are limited by obama care to 90 a year because at my age I should be sleeping ok" They don't even want to hear why I take them (lost my Son in a car wreck) 90 is the limit so now I buy them myself. Thanks to the liberals

Ron Donahue

[cuteus]

you know that stuff about the html message numbers you mentioned somewhere, and how to read archived or zapped threads?  I don't know if it is only for us Mac lovers, but all I have to do is move the cursor over the titles and I get the url in the toolbar at the bottom of the window with the thread #. Maybe if you have a bottom toolbar in windows, you can see it also, withouth having to go to properties?

[GoofyDad]

<i>The brand names use one delivery and fillers, and the generics might use a cheaper delivery.</i>

Interesting stuff. Could you expand on the delivery comments???

[cuteus]

please  do not assume that each time someone gets upset by words or "behaviours" on this board, it is riba rage.  We are not all on riba, to attribute the need for challenging someone, even if forceful, to riba rage each and everytime, feels as if emotions and opinions are not being validated. IT IS NOT ALL RIBA RAGE ON THIS BOARD!


as for the generics; medications or their active ingredients are tested for efficacy and safety. Once that is done, they have to find the best way to deliver it to the body. The brand names use one delivery and fillers, and the generics might use a cheaper delivery.  will it affect the amount of med delivered to the tissue? will the new ingredient cause its own sides in some folks?  We all hope that they tested this extensively, but they don't, until it reaches the general population of thousands of "non-selected trial subjects", that is when its hidden 'attributes' come to life.

[GoofyDad]

Nah - I confused you. Gonna use my name brand Ambien so I don't loose sleep over my generic Riba.

[mikesimon]

I will respond to you here. Offensive? I don't know that I'd call it offensive. Presumptuous would me a better description of the way I read it. Lecturing me, or all of us, about this board and the brilliant concept that we are mere guests here and all the rest of that gratuitous nonsense about how you feel we should behave. When did you get here? Have you donated one cent to this board which you seem to hold in such high regard? I have been here for a while and I love and respect this board. I have contributed to this board and I have always attempted to conduct myself in a dignified and curteous manner and, frankly, I resent being lectured by you or anyone else. Mike

[jaroman]

Where I am living now(Costa Rica), I can only get Pegasys. Roche GIVES me the Copeg free. One box with each redi-syringe of Peg.
I've got extra now too.
On Dr. Cecil's website, he mentions the availability of generic riba(mentions 3 River's Pharmacy) and says "isnt competition great?". Sounds like he has no problem with generic riba/

[GoofyDad]

Good point. I meant to mention that in my oroginal post. Overall, the expiration of patent has to be viewed as a positive development for those planning to treat.

[Forseegood]

splain it to me Desi, what does expiration of patent mean??? who did you see last night? Flock of Seagulls is touring Marin from what I see....he he he

[GoofyDad]

Patent expriation, my dear, occurs when those patent leather thigh-highs that have been going to waste in your closet get moth-holes. Jim may (or may not) be able to clue you in on this phenomena. :)

Went over to Cafe Amsterdam to see <href="http://www.bay-area-bands.com/bab00075.htm">King Perkoff</a>. It was enjoyable, but Lil Goof hit the wall early and we had to head home. Too bad, because he was liking it too.

Flock of Seagulls, har-dee-har-har. I best grab my camcorder and head over to Pt Reyes Station.  

--Goof Hitchcock

PS The patent on Ribavirin expired, making generics permissible....

[Forseegood]

I don't know, shoot me if I'm wrong, but our boy Jimmy doens't take kindly to us seeing him in his favorite moth hunting boots...mine are still around, they just loved me in em at Madam Wong's...oh Black Flag, are you still out there???geeesh! I hope not! ha ha! Henry Rollins has his own indie film cable show now...we all gotta sell out to DA MAN sometime!!! ha ha! That's so sweet that you bring your little boy to music clubs, he must be quite the cultivated little dude! Yikes! I can imagine him when he's 22!!!

[Forseegood]

oh yeah, Mr. King was born in the same town as I was, Santa Monica, in the same year and month...so he must be fabuloso in person, he he he...I like Ben Webster myself...

[wMich]

I switched to generic Ribavirin late last year right after it became available. In a way I was forced into this when my co-pay for Copegus jumped from $35/month to nearly $280/month. A couple days on the phone, some angst and a few ruffled feathers later I found out that it was a condition of my insurance coverage: $35 co-pay cap on branded drugs when there is no generic available that goes up to a 20% co-pay when/if one is available. The "retail" price on the "generic" Ribavirin from Three Rivers Pharmacy (AKA Ribasphere) is not that much less (@$80.00/mo) than Copegus either! Buy this stock I'm thinkin', LOL.

Anyway, I wasn't happy with the switch but didn't want to have to pay so much out of pocket either, especially with more than half of my 48 weeks to go. Maybe I don't like the blue color, who knows? I heard generics should be available in 400 and 600 mg tabs soon, if not already and I'm surely down with taking less pills! I have no less faith in the generic product and am not sure that there can be any effective difference from Copegus. The stuff still delivers the old rash 'n rage, so lets hope it delivers that SVR thing with it!  ;-)

Lee

[GoofyDad]

Forsee: Amazes me that people don't include their kids more than they do. Why not? Are they ill behaved? Brats? We decline to treat them as the responsible young people we wish them to be, then blame them when they don't become the responsible young people we wish that they were.  

Tator: Sorry for your headaches. Mine was pretty short lived. It was the left temporal area for me, but then I'm taking the riba orally. ;-)

[jmjm530]

I kinda thought the same thing...wonder if I should just mix 'em up a bit. Three Copegus in the morn', Three, Three-Rivers at night. Then maybe a little Deltamethrin chaser before bedtime -- hey, it seems to kill the moths pretty well :)

-- Jim

[mikesimon]

I find you sanctimonious at best. Rev had you nailed. Mike

[NYgirl]

Honestly - I am a believer in generics for people who have to pay for their drugs - they are the exact same thing except since they company didn't have to put all the money into developing them and stuff...so they are cheaper.

I don't think they are any different than regular drugs with a "name".  IE: look at ibuprofen compared to Advil...one just cheaper than the other but the same stuff.

I wouldn't care if they would put me on them really at all as long as I knew it was the same stuff.

:)

[GoofyDad]

<i>Isn't Cafe Amsterdam a bar?</i>

Bar. Restaurant. The lines blur. Why?

[mikesimon]

Kalio said "and that is the last I will say on this.
Pick a fight with someone else, I'm not interested" and then Kalio proceeded to post again and try to pick a fight. That is neither dignified NOR curteous. I mentioned your time here in the context that experience should foster an understanding of how things generally work around here. If you haven't been here that long perhaps you don't appreciate how  posts have been handled in the past. Do you really think I need you to tell me who is the boss here and what they can do and why? i fully understand that but for some weird reason I feel that it is my right to question. Would you deny me that too? And I mentioned my contribution to elucidate the simple fact that I put my money where my mouth is. I revere this board and thus I support it. And I know how to behave myself and have known long before you arrived. Is that clear enough for you? Now I am finished with this subject and I mean what I say. Mike

[NYgirl]

Trying to sidetrack again ;-)

My Ribas have ALWAYS been white capsules compared to your pink pills.  Maybe I can find a way to change too - just for variety. I'm sick of vanilla a bit of strawberry might do just fine.

best of luck

(Dont let tempers all get too high in here - on Day After Shot Day just have an extra bowl of ice cream guys)

[Forseegood]

agree with you girl, although I've been in a few scuffles myself so I prob shouldn't talk, sometimes it seems that people get a little cranky in waves (on this board)...I've read often that liver disease in general can wreak havoc on the nerves...hopefully, I'll try to retain whatever sense of humor and equanimity I have on the tx, but God knows, I might turn into Godzilla...though I'll try my level best not to...just think this is so stressful to have this and especially to treat for it...hopefully we can just let some of this go....

[PKCO]

The generic is the same as the name brand. It is subjected to the same rigorous standards as any new drugs. The active ingredient(s) must be exactly the same in quantity and dosage. I'm surprised to hear that there is actually a doctor out there who doesn't know this. For more info go to : www.fda.gov
That whole generic v. brand name is an urban legend. The placebo effect is very powerful.  ;)
PK

[Mister beagle bailey]

I was not prsent here when all this went down today.  But I'm amazed at how out of hand it has become.  Please all of yous think for a minute and don't let the riba rage take over as it seems to have done. Forget the poor chose of words, etc. and try to remember we are all in the same boat.  We are all sisters and brothers in the fight against Hep C.  If we don't all stick together with this, all else will fail. One thing is for sure that the public as a whole has know idea what Hep C really is and what it can do, nor do they understand how people can get it.  There are Drs., nurses, CEOs, teachers, and the list goes on who have it.  It knows no boundries and it doesn't matter if your rich, poor or homeless.  
It's important we remember this and stay a team.  It's the only way to get the word out to help protect ourselves, our children, grandchildren and generations to come.

Please give this a thought,

     The Beagle

[GoofyDad]

I've always felt as you do re generics. But my Dad's neurologist wants only the brand drug for his Parkison's med. Add to that my hepatologist who is open to the possibility of the generic affecting folks diffrently, and I have two highly trained specialists who suggest to me there *could* be a difference.

I expect the manufacturing process is pretty complex - not a cup of this and a cup of that and bake on a pre-greased pan at 350 - so while the drug spec is undoubtedly the same, there *could* be a difference in manufacturing lines.

With all that, I'm sticking with the generic and not loosing any sleep over it - thanks to my brand name Ambien......